According to La Velle ‘the real deal’ E. Neal III, in the Star-Tribune, citing ‘sources,’ the Mets are expected to give Johan Santana a six-year deal that would pay him about $130 million.

…now, santana is under contract for this coming year at $13 million – after which he is eligible to be a free agent…nearly every new york-based report has said the Mets will not dish out a contract that guarantees more than five years…yet, the Star-Tribune expects it to be six…

…i wonder if the two sides will rip up this current deal, and start from scratch with a new deal, so the six years technically begins this coming season…i guess we will know soon enough…

By the way, the Star-Tribune also writes the following…

“According to a person familiar with negotiations, Santana and his agent, Peter Greenberg, gave the Twins until the end of the day on Tuesday to get a deal done or Santana would invoke his no-trade clause and remain with the Twins through the 2008 season.”

…nice job, johan…as i kept saying, he was in the driver’s seat all along…he finally forced the issue and it happened…

…oh, and i can’t stop using that 1986 Topps Santana Card i created…i love it…expect to see in every post today…i hope you don’t mind…

…also, for what it’s worth, i created that graphic five days ago, so i would have it ready to go when a deal went down…and, yes, i was so afraid i was jinxing it…phew, to say the least…